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2007/07/22

Rajma chawal,papad ,warrian ,juttis and the train from Pakistan

The train from Pakistan stops at Attari, the last station on the Indian border, set amidst silent green fields

It is a three hour journey and the packed train disgorges hordes of people from across the border who remain hemmed in with blue ropes at the station until they clear customs and immigration which the Assistant Commissioner tells us takes hours to complete . It is a silent place .And it is easy to imagine that trainload of slaughtered bodies that came to rest here during partition . Now the crowds are quiet and watch and wait patiently to board the blue train to Delhi which waits beyond the guard fence .A signboard says "Welcome to India -the largest democracy in the world.